Moments
by listeningtothestorm
Summary: First attempt at Harry Potter fic writing! Set during HBP, Dumbledore thinks back over certain happy moments during his life. DumbledorexGrindlewald implied. Probably doesn't need to be rated T but i'm doing so to be safe.


Moments

_**This is set directly after the conversation between Dumbledore and Snape where Snape's patronus is made clear and Dumbledore is told he has less than a year to live because of the curse on the ring. DumbldorexGrindlewald, nothing explicit but it is implied. This was my first ever attempt at a fic, so any reviews would be greatly appreciated. Other than that, enjoy, and I hope this is to your liking.**_

He sat, gazing benevolently at the door that Severus had just swept out of. How many times had he sat like this, alone but for the gentle snoring of the many headmasters on the wall above him, and the quiet whirring of the machines on his desk; he couldn't possibly begin to count the times. And now, with so much to think about, why could he think of only one thing?

"_After all this time?"_

"_Always."_

He lifted his arm to brush away a tear from his eye, wincing slightly as he knocked the withered flesh against his glasses. It was incredible, he mused, that with everything he could be, and probably should be, worrying about, all he could think about was how incredible it was. Incredible, that after so long, and after so much had happened, how a man could hold so much love in his heart still, how a person could hold onto a handful of fleeting, beautiful memories and use them to keep on going when everything else had deserted them.

They had a lot in common, he smiled slightly to himself, Severus and himself; they both had a habit of holding onto memories that it would probably be kinder to forget, and yet neither of them could ever forget. And yet Severus at least, had a few short years worth of memories to nourish him. He had but a few short months.

'_Come on, would you!' shouted the laughing, light haired boy from the other side of the street, 'If we keep up this pace, by the time we get there we'll have to come back!'. The taller of the two boys simply smiled, and carried on walking at a steady pace, shielding his eyes against the sun as he raised his head to look at the other. _

'_Gellert, be quiet for once, you're ruining the peace out here,' he said with a flash of playfulness in his bright blue eyes. The blond boy grinned, and slowed down to walk at his side once more. The afternoon sun beat down on them as they walked down towards the shimmering lake at the end of the empty avenue._

'_Albus, you're quiet today'_

_Roused out of an almost stupor by the sound of his name, he turned on his side to look at the boy. He was raised on his elbow, deliberately not meeting his eye and playing casually with his wand, making the small patch of long grass beside them change colour slowly with the movement of the breeze. He took a moment to appreciate the subtle beauty of the charm, then reached out and grabbed the hand that loosely gripped the wand, lowering it to the ground. _

'_Sorry. Forgive me?'_

_He was sitting in bed, answering an owl from a noted potions specialist, when he heard a sudden and persistent tapping on the window pane beside him. Startled, he jumped up, and saw a beautiful and familiar grey owl pecking persistently at the window. He opened the window to allow the bird in, and felt a reluctant smile grow slowly on his face when he saw the familiar handwriting on the tightly rolled scroll attached to the creatures leg. He put aside his lengthy reply to the potions specialist and sat down to unroll the short scroll in his hand. Dusty old professors could wait - this was far more important to him right now._

'…_so how does that sound? Albus? Hey, are you listening to me?' _

_The blond boy shook his head impatiently as he resisted the urge to click his fingers in front of the elder boy's face, as he so often did. He settled instead, for sitting down sharply on the bed next to him, hoping to startle him out of his thoughts with the movement._

'_You know Albus, I swear you don't even hear me half the time I speak, I mean what on earth could you possibly be thinking of that makes you SO oblivious to what I'm saying? This is important you know-' he stopped as he looked at the bespectacled boy straight in the face and saw him laughing silently. Teetering on the edge of fury for just a few fleeting seconds, he gave in, and reluctantly broke into a grin, lying back onto the bed next to him. _

'_I was serious though…' he muttered half-heartedly._

_So close to his face he could barely breathe, the beautiful boy opened his eyes and smiled, that lazy grin that so easily lit up his face, making him look so merry and care-free. He rested his forehead against his, auburn and golden hair mixing easily. _

'_So, are you still intent on nagging me about being expelled, Albus?' he laughed, pulling him yet closer as he did._

'_I am not to be won over quite so easily, Gellert. But, I do admit, one good thing has come of it.'_

'_And what would that be?' he replied, confused at this sudden turn of opinion in the ever sensible older boy._

'_If you had not been expelled, we would never have met, of course.' And with this, the two young boys both smiled, one gently and wisely, the other mischievously and lazily, both content in the knowledge that neither of them could ever be so happy as they were in that moment._

In his quiet study, surrounded by the thick darkness of the anonymous night outside, an old man wept quietly. Not, as many might expect, at the knowledge that he had so little time left, oh no, that barely troubled him. No, he wept for the past rather than the future. At the persistence of memories so beautiful and comforting that they no longer seemed real, and at the amount of wonderful moments one short summer can possess.


End file.
